Sophistication - Sophistication of argument appropriate for matter being discussed.

Convincing and Original - The answer is compelling and introduces novel arguments or conclusions of argument.

Marshalling of evidence - Identification and credibility of supporting evidence.

Make sure your submission does not fail any one of these six criteria.

13 suggestions that might improve the quality of your submission

Allow yourself plenty of time to prepare your submission as it will no doubt conflict with other important priorities.

It is often better to compose a submission over a number of sittings. Most submissions benefit from having time to reflect on whether each and every sentence is necessary and, if so, could be better formulated.

There is no need to address your submission to a particular person, persons, or institution.

Do not think there is a single, correct answer to the question in the submission topic. The question posed is sufficiently open-ended so as to allow different authors to pursue different aspects of the question. Of course, it makes sense to focus on the key elements of the question; a collection of unrelated asides is unlikely to impress the reader/viewer.

Where appropriate, use the submission as an opportunity to show what tools and skills you have learned at your university and to reflect on the implications and further development of those tools and skills.

Acknowledging caveats and counter-arguments need not be a sign of weakness, indeed, if skillfully employed, they can add to the credibility of the submission by not appearing to claim "too much" for the argument(s) being advanced.

Get used to presenting sophisticated, multi-step arguments, often as separate points. There should be precise exposition within each point, showing mastery of terms, appreciation of the facts, and a critical perspective.

Be sure to include succinct, clear explanations of those terms absolutely necessary to understand an argument. Avoid irrelevant or superfluous ideas and concepts.

Make sure your submission has an informative introductory and concluding statements, that leave the audience in no doubt as to the nature of the subject matter discussed, its importance, and the final arguments or implications that you have drawn.

If necessary, provide references with your submission. Remember the submission is supposed to be entirely your own work.

For essays: once you have drafted your paper, read it out loud, ideally in front of a loved one or someone you are not too embarrassed to read in front of! Logical flaws are somehow easier to spot when spoken, and grammatical errors become too. Correct the paper and reread it before submitting it.

For videos: once you have prepared your video submission, review the content and re-rehearse and record it at least once before submitting it. Be sure to watch your final version at least once before submitting.

Please ensure your audio and video quality are high enough to allow review.

Preparing a compelling video presentation

Well designed and executed video presentations allow analysts to make a compelling case in a visually attractive manner that keeps the attention of watchers much more than readers of written reports.

With a video presentation, the spoken word can be combined with text and diagrams over time, making it possible to make a sophisticated, multiple-step argument that demonstrates excellent technical knowledge, originality, and presentational skills. Video presentations, therefore, are a superb vehicle to demonstrate thought leadership in an era where the audience wants to learn a lot as quickly as possible.

The fact that video presentations have so many dimensions—spoken word, visual images (not just powerpoint text), and time—means that a premium is placed on planning a presentation carefully.

The image-by-image or slide-by-slide nature of video presentations expose easily logical deficiencies, false inferences, and exaggerated conclusions. No amount of flashy imagery will cover up for poor content, so make sure the underlying material, frameworks, and their applications are well understood.

A video presentation does not have to be long to cover a lot of ground. Viewers absorb ideas from videos faster than most people read, so a presentation may require far fewer words than a written essay. The rich informational content of video presentations also means that typically they cannot be too long as the attention span of many viewers is limited.

A good starting point is to sketch out step-by-step the argument to be made. Then, for each step the associated visual images should be identified. It is quite possible that in making one step in the argument several visual images that build upon each are used. Indeed, viewers tend to lose concentration if they listen for too long without seeing movement on the screen in front of them. The following diagram might help.

Break the story being told into logical steps. Here is an example:

For each step identify the associated visual images. Here is an example:

Before starting to plan a presentation it is often useful to watch some better practice, short video presentations. Doing so will stimulate creativity.